Center for the Study of Ethics in Society
Film Series
Each Spring, the Ethics Center hosts a film series, featuring films that incorporate ethical problems and concerns. A discussion leader raises some of the key issues at play within the film, then opens the floor to audience members for discussion.
These events are free and open to the public.
Spring 2010 Schedule
"Fail Safe" (1964)
6:30pm Tuesday, January 19
3025 Brown Hall
Discussion Leader: Paul Pancella - Physics
IMDB
A technical malfunction in the Pentagon's strategic control system causes an erroneous order to be sent to a B-58 squadron on a routine training mission instructing the bombers to fly beyond their fail safe distance. At this point the flight crew are trained to cease communications and prepare to fulfill their objective by bombing Moscow. As the planes near their target, the crisis deepens and together the Americans and Soviets decide on a final, desperate solution. Starring Henry Fonda and Walter Matthau. – Swank Motion Pictures
*Please note there has been a room change for this event. Thank you!
PBS's "Citizen King" (2004)
6:30pm Thursday, January 21
3025 Brown Hall
Discussion Leader: William Santiago-Valles - Africana Studies
This event is part of WMU's annual "MLK Celebration"
PBS.org
This American Experience documentary focuses on the life and times of an African American minister whose dream of ending racism galvanized millions of Americans in the civil rights movement. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1968 but left an enduring legacy. – PBS.org
"The Battle of Algiers" (1967)
6:30pm Tuesday, February 16
3025 Brown Hall
Discussion Leader: Norman W. Hawker - Financial & Commercial Law
www.facetsmovies.com
Internationally acclaimed, the staggering newsreel-like authenticity of the staged street riots and vital performances of the actors give Battle of Algiers a unique dramatic impact on this detailing of the Algerian revolt against the French. Winner of the Golden Lion at the 1965 Venice International Film Festival. – Facets Multimedia
"9" (2009)
6:30pm Tuesday, March 16
3025 Brown Hall
Discussion Leader: Heather D. Schild - Communication
6:30pm Tuesday, March 16
3025 Brown Hall
Discussion Leader: Heather D. Schild - Communication
The animated feature is set in a post-apocalyptic world where rag dolls band together to survive. A rag doll named 9 happens upon a small community of others like him taking refuge from fearsome machines that roam the earth intent on their extinction. 9 convinces the others that they must stand and fight to survive and in doing so they learn the very future of civilization may depend on them. –Swank Motion Pictures
"Kansas vs. Darwin" (2005)
6:30pm Tuesday, April 20
3025 Brown Hall
Discussion Leader: Fritz Allhoff - Philosophy
www.newday.com
Even before they took place, the 2005 Kansas school board hearings on evolution were recognized as a pivotal battle in America's ongoing war over teaching evolution in the public schools. Organized by believers in Intelligent Design and convened by creationists, the hearings provided a testing ground for the successful legal and political tactics that drive today's ongoing actions by anti-evolution organizations in the US and around the world.–New Day Films